Valley Christian’s girls volleyball team had waited a long, long time for the outcome that finally arrived Tuesday night. And when top-ranked Archbishop Mitty’s final shot landed wide in the fifth and decisive set, the No. 3 Warriors erupted as… Continue Reading →

]]>Valley Christian's girls volleyball team had waited a long, long time for the outcome that finally arrived Tuesday night.
And when top-ranked Archbishop Mitty's final shot landed wide in the fifth and decisive set, the No. 3 Warriors erupted as if it were New Year's Eve in Time Square.
Valley Christian rallied to defeat Mitty 19-25, 25-14, 21-25, 27-25, 15-10 in a clash between West Catholic Athletic League powers.
But for Valley Christian, it meant so much more.
"It was awesome," Notre Dame-bound senior Maddie Dilfer said. "We've been working hard all season, trying to get better. Had this date on the calendar, knew it was coming.
"They played a great match. They're a really good team. Credit to them. But it was our night, and we came out and proved it."
Valley Christian rolled through the second set after losing a tight first set.
Mitty, the reigning Division II state champion, regrouped to win the third set and positioned itself to end the match in the fourth, taking a 23-22 lead.
But Valley Christian got a big shot from Kirsten Mead to go ahead 26-25 and sent the match to the fifth set when 6-foot-3 sophomore Ronika Stone made a huge block.
Stone took charge from there, delivering two kills and a block to give Valley Christian a lead in the fifth set that it would not relinquish.
"There was a lot of things going on in my mind, but I just thought, 'Next ball. Next ball,' even if we didn't get the point," Stone said. "We had to fight for the next ball and don't let them get over, too. Worry about our side of the court and not the crowd, because they were loud tonight."
Mead called the victory "an amazing experience," noting the amount of work the team has gone through to reach this point.
"We put everything into this game," she said. "We just gave it our all and played together. We're really happy with the way it turned out.
"We believed we could win this match. We knew we could do it, even when we were behind in the fourth set. We just knew we could pull it out if we worked together."
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Coming Thursday
For more on girls volleyball, including additional reaction from this match, check out the Varsity Extra page in Thursday's Mercury News.
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@DarrenSabedra@GReeves23@MercPreps]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/10/15/girls-volleyball-valley-christian-outlasts-top-ranked-mitty-in-five-sets/feed/0photoGirls volleyball Week 5: The new Mercury News top 15http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/10/03/volleyball-week-5-the-new-mercury-news-top-15/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/10/03/volleyball-week-5-the-new-mercury-news-top-15/#commentsThu, 03 Oct 2013 17:31:40 +0000Glenn Reeveshttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/?p=5514Archbishop Mitty holds on to the top spot, but Menlo School moves up from No. 4 to No. 2 after beating Valley Christian and Sacred Heart Cathedral. There are several groups of teams that are hard to draw distinctions between.… Continue Reading →]]>1. Archbishop Mitty 16-2
Last week: 1
2. MenloSchool 14-4
Last week: 4
Beat Valley Christian and Castilleja
3. Valley Christian 16-3
Last week: 2
Beat Santa Teresa and St. Francis, lost to Menlo
4. Sacred Heart Cathedral 13-2
Last week: 3
Beat Mercy-SF, St. Mary's-Albany, LaSalle-Oregon and Christian Brothers-Sac
5. Presentation 10-5
Last week: 7
Beat Notre Dame-Salinas, lost to Lincoln-Stockton
6. St. Francis 9-5
Last week: 8
Beat Homestead, lost to Valley Christian
7. Homestead 9-6
Last week: 5
Beat Palo Alto, lost to St. Francis
8. Palo Alto 11-4
Last week: 6
Lost to Homestead
9. Menlo-Atherton 9-3
Last week: 9
Beat San Mateo and South San Francisco
10. Los Altos 13-2
Last week: 10
Beat Independence, Mills, Mercy-SF, Gunn, St. Ignatius and Gunn
11. Westmont 15-3
Last week: 11
Beat Sobrato and Live Oak
12. Carlmont 10-5
Last week: 13
Beat Hillsdale and Burlingame
13. Burlingame 9-6
Last week: 12
Beat Aragon, lost to Carlmont
14. Los Gatos 13-6
Last week: 15
Beat Mountain View and Monta Vista
15. Woodside 10-6
Last week: NR
Beat South San Francisco and Aragon]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2013/10/03/volleyball-week-5-the-new-mercury-news-top-15/feed/0